San Diego Yoga - BKS Iyengar Yoga Centers for Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced Students

Mary Obendorfer & Eddy Marks, Co-Directors

Mary & Eddy direct the BKS Iyengar Yoga Center of San Diego located in Ocean Beach. They are Senior Iyengar teachers certified at the Advanced level. They have studied with the Iyengars in India 18 & 19 times respectively and spent a year from 2003-2004 and another half year in 2009 studying in Pune, India with the Iyengars. They adhere strictly to BKS Iyengar's methodology and continue their education by studying in India with the Iyengars.

Together they own and direct the BKS Iyengar Yoga Center of San Diego - The first BKS Iyengar Yoga Center in Southern California (est. 1979). They conduct teacher trainings, workshops, and yoga vacations around the world. They have been instrumental in starting yoga programs in corporations through their yoga demonstrations and by providing instructors from their Teacher Training Course. They enjoy the challenge of teaching in diverse communities and are committed to sharing the intricacies and joys of yoga with all.

Mary and Eddy acknowledge the governing influence of BKS Iyengar on their practice and teaching and are grateful to him for his inspired teaching, for his unending efforts to uplift the lives of all those who come in contact with him, and for always being the superlative example of a life skillfully lived.

Eddy Marks

Eddy is a Senior Iyengar teacher certified at the Advanced level. He has been to India 18 times and has practiced yoga since 1976. He has also taught at the Yoga Journal & Asia Yoga conferences. He is currently an assessor for the National Board for Iyengar Yoga Teacher Certification. He has a degree from UCLA in Kinesiology (the study of human movement) and teaches anatomy & physiology for yoga practitioners. He was employed as an exercise physiologist and taught yoga in the cardiac rehabilitation program of the famous Pritikin Longevity Center. There with the guidance of Mr Iyengar, he was the first to introduce yoga for cardiac rehabilitation which was a great success. He has served as president of his local association (IYASC) and as a board member and archivist for the national association (IYNAUS).

Mary Obendorfer

Mary is a Senior Iyengar teacher certified at the Advanced level. She has been to India 17 times and has been practicing yoga since 1981. She is currently an assessor for the National Board for Iyengar Yoga Teacher Certification. She was one of the few people from around the world to attend the invitation only Back Bend intensive given directly by Mr. Iyengar. She also worked with Dr. Mary Schatz in India documenting the therapeutic yoga that Mr Iyengar is so famous for. She has served as president of her local association (IYASC).

Beth Birenbaum

Beth is a certified Iyengar yoga instructor. She began studying Iyengar yoga in 2001 and completed the 2-year Teacher Training Course (TTC) here at the Center. Beth has been teaching since 2006 and continually strives to further her teaching skills through apprenticing and participation in workshops with senior teachers. In addition, Beth holds a certificate from UCSD in Exercise Science/Fitness Instruction. Before teaching yoga, Beth taught gymnastics, surfing and snowboarding. She is full of life and intent on helping her students.

Cyndy Cordle

Cyndy has been practicing yoga in the tradition of Shri BKS Iyengar since 1993. She began studying here at the BKS Iyengar Yoga Centers of San Diego as a beginning student and went on to participate in the 2 year Teacher Training Course (TTC) offered at this center. She is now a certified instructor in the Iyengar method and has been a teacher at the center since 1998. She has studied in Pune with the Iyengar family on a regular basis since 2000. Apart from her yoga experience, Cyndy is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. Her skills as a clinician make her an empathic and encouraging teacher of yoga. She views yoga as "the greatest 'change agent' available to humanity" enthusiastically bringing that belief to life through her teaching. See her schedule at the Ocean Beach location.

Kitty Franklin

Kitty is a certified Iyengar Yoga instructor with over 20 years of experience in the practice and teaching of Iyengar Yoga. Her teaching style is characterized by a balance between strength and flexibility as well as a concern for the individual student regardless of their level of experience. Kitty's teaching style is adaptable to the yoga novice as well as the experienced yoga practitioner. She believes in yoga as a method for restoring balance in the body, the mind and ultimately in life.

Royal Fraser

Royal Fraser is a certified Iyengar yoga teacher. He attended the National Convention with Geeta Iyengar in 2007 and the Teacher's Convention with Geeta Iyengar in 2010. Royal made his first trip to Pune to study with the Iyengar family in 2009 and returned again in 2011. He has been studying yoga and Chinese Medicine since 1994. Royal holds a Masters of Science degree in Chinese Medicine and is a licensed acupuncturist, massage therapist, and Chinese Herbalist. Previously, Royal taught swimming for 12 years to all ages; infants and mothers, children, teens, adults and senior citizens.

Elaine Hall

Elaine is a certified Iyengar yoga teacher who has been practicing Iyengar yoga since 1995. She was first introduced to Yoga in the mid-seventies. In 1993 when she came to California, it became very clear to her that she needed to get back to Yoga in a serious way. As fate would have it, she ended up renting a guest house from a certified Iyengar yoga teacher. It was definitely a case of "when the student is ready the teacher will appear." She immediately embraced the technique and philosophy behind the Iyengar teachings. Observing all the benefits that she has experienced from her own practice the path became clear to teach and share. Elaine has completed the 2 year Teacher Training Course (TTC) with Eddy Marks and Mary Obendorfer. She has travelled to Pune twice, 2005 and 2008, to study with the Iyengars and looks forward to returning again in the future. See her schedule at the Ocean Beach location.

Rob Harris

Rob is a certified Iyengar yoga instructor. He began studying with Mary and Eddy in 1999 as the result of a Christmas gift certificate from his wife, Pegge. Within a year he had enrolled in the intensive 2 year Teacher Training Course (TTC) and began the rigorous preparation necessary to achieve certification. Rob graduated the (TTC) in 2002 and has been teaching, assisting and substituting at both the Ocean Beach and Normal Heights Centers ever since. Along with his Yoga practice and teaching, Rob is working towards a degree in counseling for chemical dependency. For the past two summers, and hopefully many more, he has interned in India with Father Joe Periera's Kripa Foundation, an Indian non-profit that integrates BKS Iyengar's method of Yoga with the 12-step recovery process. Rob is committed to his personal practice and the positive transformations that come from it. He is always happy to help others with their own transformational process. Rob brings a lot of energy to his classes. See his schedule at the Ocean Beach location.

Kim Kolibri

Kim is a certified Iyengar yoga teacher who has been practicing Iyengar yoga since 1997 and teaching since 2000. She completed the 2 year Teacher Training Course (TTC) taught by Eddy and Mary and continues to study with them whenever possible. Kim has journeyed to India to study at RIMYI with the Iyengar family in 2005 and 2008, and is planning to return in the near future. She has attended numerous Iyengar Yoga conventions and studied with various senior level teachers. Yoga is the foundation from which Kim lives her life and she is continually amazed and in deep gratitude for the lessons and blessings that yoga continues to reveal in her body and upon her path. She is currently the business manager of the BKS Iyengar Yoga Centers of San Diego as well as the director of the IYNAUS Archive. She is also a nationally certified massage therapist with a practice that primarily focuses on Pre/Peri-natal and therapeutic modalities. In addition to teaching general yoga classes she also enjoys teaching teenage athletes as they develop into healthy and purposeful young adults. See her schedule at the Ocean Beach location.

Pat McLoughlin

Pat began her Iyengar yoga practice over twenty years ago in 1988. She enjoyed the benefits that weekly yoga classes brought to her and over time she developed her own home practice and eventually trained to become an Iyengar certified instructor. Pat currently holds the Intermediate Junior Level of teacher certification. She continues her own yoga training with senior teachers in San Diego and has made three trips to Pune, India to study with the Iyengar family. Pat is happy to share with others the practice of Iyengar yoga with all of its many benefits in the wonderful community that is the Iyengar Yoga Centers of San Diego. See her schedule at the Ocean Beach location.

Peter Smith

After many years of working in construction, Peter was drawn to yoga to help with stress and stiffness in his knees. He started practicing Iyengar yoga in 2000. The stiffness in his knees went away quickly, stress too abated as yoga became increasingly integral in his life. Through his teaching, Peter hopes to help others receive the benefits of yoga in their lives. Peter Smith has completed the teacher training course (TTC 2005-6) with Eddy and Mary and he apprentices with Eddy and Mary weekly. He is working to become a certified Iyengar teacher and plans to study in India with the Iyengars.